Reckless Behavior
by TheWanderingLily
Summary: Pope gets a little bit of what he deserves. (Brenda/Fritz)


**This story didn't exactly turn out how I meant it to, but now that it's written, there's really nothing else to do with it other than to post it. It might be a tad bit OOC. Set before their wedding, but after learning about Fritz's DUIs. I know that Raydor doesn't actually show up until later, which is why she is only mentioned in passing. Anyways, here we go.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters.**

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To say that Brenda was exhausted was an understatement. She couldn't remember a case that had left her so extremely frazzled as the one that she had just closed moments ago. Two little girls had been brutally murdered in what the Los Angeles news was calling the crime of the century. Normally, a double murder involving children would warrant a decent amount of press, but the father of the now deceased twins was a member of the LAPD and the entire department had been out for blood.

This particular MO had been seen before in two previous unsolved cases over a period of about five years, alerting the FBI to a possible serial killer and forcing Brenda to pay far too close attention to inter-agency relations. But for once, she and the FBI had been on the same page about what had needed to be done, much to her fiance's infinite relief.

However, Fritz had been concerned about her lack of sleep and eating habits lately and, as a result, had taken to watching her closer than usual. Sharing a case made that a lot easier for him, she supposed, but if it meant that she could regularly encounter his reassuring embraces at work while she was knee-deep in a double murder investigation, then she was glad to accept his mother-henning, as she liked to call it. Besides, she couldn't really get mad at him when she had been watching him just as closely.

They hadn't had nearly enough time together recently with this case taking up all of their time and though they had made up, her office wasn't really the place to discuss their latest disagreement. His DUIs had been a blow that she hadn't expected and though she wished she'd known before their engagement, even she knew that her answer to his impromptu proposal would have been yes regardless. Fritz, she knew now, was a flawed man, but her love for him hadn't changed at all.

She sighed. She needed one of his patented hugs right about now, but she had yet to leave the interrogation room. Still sitting in the chair she had for the duration of the interview, she didn't know had much time had passed, only that Detectives Gabriel and Sanchez had already removed the suspect and that it was finally, blissfully quiet.

"Brenda?"

Startled by the sudden intrusion into her thoughts, she scrambled to her feet as quickly as she could, only to realize, too late, that it was merely Chief Pope.

_'Damn it! I really do need sleep if I didn't notice that he was still here.'_

As high priority as the case had been, Will had insisted on being present for the interview. He argued that it was his duty to make sure that everything went smoothly and according to plan to ensure a conviction. Why he didn't just stay in the electronics room to watch the monitors with the others she had no idea, but he'd been breathing down her neck for days.

"Are you alright? I didn't mean to scare you, I just wanted to congratulate you on a job well done."

"Yes, I'm fine. Thank you, Will." She couldn't name why, but she was suddenly agitated that he had come. He'd been popping up around her more frequently lately and she had a sneaking suspicion that it was all related to her recently acquired engagement ring. Normally, she would have ignored him, but with the stress of the day, her barriers were down and defenses low.

Looking up at him, she was suddenly aware that he was staring at her, but there was something off about his eyes that put her on instant alert and her spine stiffened in response.

"Your squad is celebrating as we speak and there are no other cases that need to be dealt with at the moment. You should join them." He hesitated briefly and to her, he looked almost bashful. "I was wondering if you'd join me for a drink in my office, if you haven't made other plans for the evening? Or we could grab some dinner, whichever you'd prefer."

If he perceived the instant widening of her eyes or the clenching of her fists, he ignored it, as she turned towards the door to leave.

"As a matter of fact, I do have another _engagement_. Fritz and I are going to grab some pizza and a movie and call it a night."

She hoped that reminding him of their FBI Liaison would deter him, but he continued.

"Oh come now, Brenda. Surely Fritz can survive a night without you. He has before."

A pang of guilt swept through her at the mention of spending time away from Fritz and anger that, once again, Will Pope was all too aware of it.

"I'm sure he can, but I'm too tired for a night out. I need a glass of wine and some rest."

She was irritated. Why couldn't he just let her leave? Why couldn't he understand that all she wanted right now was to curl up in her fiance's arms and sleep?

_'Because you've never told him. Not really.'_

Her forward progress to the door had all but stopped as she stared at it, too stunned to move. She was completely devoted to Fritz. She knew that with all of her heart, regardless of how small she believed it to be, but Fritz had doubted her before so why wouldn't Will?

Will had tried to cause tension between them on multiple occasions and though betraying Fritz had never crossed her mind, she had never really told Will that he didn't have a chance in hell...had she?

Sure, she'd told him that she needed her relationship with Fritz to work out, but even she couldn't deny that she'd never told Will anything beyond that. She'd never told Will that she loved Fritz or that she wanted that man as much as she needed him. Hell, had she ever even told Fritz that?

_'All of this needs to end. Right here, right now.'_

Still frozen in place by her sudden realization, she hadn't noticed that Will had continued to speak, despite her abrupt silence.

"-surely you wouldn't want your people to celebrate on their own, after all the help they've been."

"I-I can celebrate with Fritz at home. This was his case too, after all." Annoyed, by how weak her voice sounded to her own ears, she turned around to face him, praying that doing so would make her appear stronger than she felt.

"We both know that you can't really celebrate with Fritz," he chuckled. "You wouldn't want to tempt him. God forbid he raise a glass in celebration."

Blinding, red-hot fury swept through her. And before she was even aware of her own movement, a loud crack echoed through the room as her hand connected with the left side of his face.

"_How dare you_."

Her words had come out with a sharp edge, that to her, sounded more like a growl than anything human. As shocked as she was, Will was probably more so, for his eyes were as wide as saucers.

"Brenda-"

"No, you will shut up and you will listen to me."

His mouth was hanging open and he was staring at her, from his place against the wall, as if she'd gone mad, but he wisely remained silent at the piercing glare she was throwing his way.

"I am so, so tired of this and I've had enough, Will. I'm only going to say this once, so pay attention." She paused, attempting to put her thoughts in order. "You and I are over. We have been over for almost a decade. Not at any point, since I arrived in Los Angeles, have I ever desired to leave Fritz and return to you. You lied to me for the duration of our relationship and I would never allow him to feel the same pain you caused me. God knows that I've caused him enough on my own."

She stopped, to calm her breathing, but she was far from finished, with plenty of anger left to burn off.

"And how dare you. To insult him, in such a manner, is to directly insult me as well, and I'm fed up with your petty jealousy. I'm engaged to a man I don't deserve, but who loves me anyway. A lesser man would have packed his bags and ran from me by now, but he's still here, as he has been all along. God only knows why."

Will Pope looked down right pathetic as he watched her rant and rave from a safe distance about the man she loved.

"To insinuate that he is somehow less than you for having a drinking problem is laughable coming from an adulterer. If the only thing I have to worry about in my marriage, is whether or not my husband will pour himself a drink, the so be it. I'll be there to help him in anyway he needs me to and, hell, at least I know that he'll never cheat on me. He's far too good of a man to ever hurt me."

He seemed to shrink in on himself at her pointed message to his own past and moved to defend himself, but she cut him off before he could begin.

"Shut up!" She was struggling to keep her composure, but she was determined to continue until she was certain that he understood completely. "If you ever, _ever_, insult Fritz like you did a moment ago or if you ever make any sort of advance that could be construed as sexual harassment towards me, I will report you to Internal Affairs and we both know how Captain Raydor takes to harassment against one of her own, don't we?"

She had never been in the room with Captain Raydor for more than a few moments at a time and they had never spoken, but it was well known that the Captain was extremely protective over fellow female officers so she felt somewhat certain that this was, at least, a significant threat.

"Please, I was only-"

"I'm not finished," she hissed. "I love that man. I don't show it very well, but I do. For some reason, he loves me, Will, and I will marry him, flaws included. If they can mean nothin' to me, then they sure as hell can't mean anythin' to you."

"Bren-"

"I suggest you refer to me as Chief Johnson. A professional relationship is all I want from you and my name is a good place to start. Do I make myself absolutely clear?"

He hesitated, but when her expression didn't soften after her outburst like he'd expected it would, his face fell further, which made his stark red cheek look even more ridiculous. Looking at him now, she couldn't remember what she had seen in him back then. He was a bastard, well and true, and after so long, she finally felt completely and utterly at peace to be free of him.

"Yes, Br-Chief Johnson. I understand," he whispered.

And with that, she turned around and was finally able to walk away.

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After making a short trip to the restroom to gather her bearings and to make sure everything was in place, she headed towards her office. She hoped Fritz would be there waiting for her as he had taken to doing when they worked late together. Putting on a brave face, she made her way to the murder room and was not disappointed when she spotted Fritz leaning against the wall of her office.

He looked strange, she decided. Walking slowly towards him, even from the distance, she knew something was different. His hair was mussed and sticking up in places, like he'd ran his fingers through it multiple times; his cheeks were tinged pink and his jaw had a fine layer of stubble. To her, he was always handsome, but he looked downright roguish in his appearance tonight.

As she approached, he lazily pushed himself away from the wall and stepped towards her, opening his arms at the exact moment she reached him. Letting out a deep sigh, she buried herself into his chest, resting her head under his chin and inhaling his cologne. Despite her disorientation, she was all too aware of how his hands were shaking slightly as they tangled in her hair.

Somehow she managed to speak his name and when he pulled back to look at her, she was taken by surprise at the emotions she could see in eyes. She had always loved his eyes. They never failed to tell her exactly how he was feeling. From the beginning of their relationship they had always been kind, but as the months passed, his eyes had filled with his growing love for her and even in his anger, his eyes had never failed to soften at the sight of her. But now, his eyes were full of something different, but no less important. He looked at her with what she guessed was pride and his eyes had filled with something like pure liquid warmth.

_'Like melted chocolate_,' she thought, licking her lips.

"Fritz?" she asked, confused at his expression.

"You slapped Pope," he whispered. And as if saying it out loud made it more real than it already was, his voice took on a mystified quality, "You slapped Will Pope...for me."

"What?! How did you know?" She cringed as her voice echoed throughout the empty room.

But Fritz wasn't listening. It was obvious that he was dazed and if she hadn't known better, she would have said he'd had a little too much to drink. "You slapped Pope, Brenda."

"I know, Fritz-"

"Hard too."

"Listen to me, pleas-"

"His face was so red."

"Yes, yes-"

"...God, you slapped Pope."

"Fritzi, listen to me-"

"Oh my God."

At the end of her patience, despite being mildly amused at his floundering expression, she grabbed the lapels of his suit jacket and shook him, successfully stopping his thought process.

"Fritzi, how did you know?"

"...what?"

He was practically bouncing now and she resisted the urge to growl at the man in front of her. "How did you know that I slapped Chief Pope?"

"Oh...I was in the electronics room watching the interview," he admitted sheepishly. "I was going to wait in your office, after everyone left, until I realized that Pope was still in there with you. And I'm so glad I did."

She could tell that he trying to reign his excitement in, but she wasn't a fool. Fritz Howard had hated Will Pope from the moment the two of them had met back in DC, but she had to admit that he'd always had good reason. She could no longer deny that.

"Fritzi, who else was there?"

_'Please don't let anyone from my squad have been there.'_

"Buzz was there, but don't worry so much, Brenda, he was fine even after you slapped Pope. Something about how he wasn't really surprised and that he deserved it. I wasn't really paying attention to him, to be honest." There was a heavy pause, before he continued, "You're sexy when you're angry."

Her stiff muscles were finally relaxing under the touch of her fiancé and her adrenaline, which had calmed somewhat, was spiking again at Fritz's close proximity.

"Are you all right, sweetheart? Do you want to talk about it?"

"I don't regret what I've done, if that's what you mean. You were right, all along, and I wish I'd listened to you back in DC. It would have saved me a lot of heartache and maybe I would have realized sooner that you were a far better catch. We probably would've been married for years by this point."

He was smiling now, in a way that reminded her vaguely of a cat about to get the cream. He stepped forward and instinctively, from the look in his eyes, she took matching steps backwards, until she was flush against Lieutenant Flynn's desk with no where left to go.

"So I'm a good catch, am I?"

"Well, I did just defend your honor, Agent Howard." Smiling like a fool, she reached up and grabbed his tie, running the silky fabric through her fingers.

"Oh, and you did such a wonderful job, honey, " he chuckled deeply. It was that low, deep baritone of his that always made her knees a little shaky and her toes curl. Warmth pooled in her abdomen and all of her anxiety from the past week dissolved in the wake of his secure embrace and sweet comfort.

By this time, she was all but leaning over the desk backwards, but so focused on his face as she was, she shrieked in surprise when she felt Fritz's hands grip her hips and lift her up to onto the piece of furniture. Pushing her knees apart so that he could stand between them, he leaned forward until both his hands were flush against the desk, his hips pinning her in place.

"Honey?" he asked softly.

"Hmm?" Her voice had dropped to a low, sensual purr and the fire burning in his eyes spoke volumes of what he had in mind.

_'Like melted chocolate, indeed.'_

As he leaned towards her, he was so close that she could feel his warm breath on her lips and in anticipation of his kiss, she licked her lips unconsciously. She was vaguely aware-in the very deep and suddenly foggy recesses of her mind-that Fritz's hand had crept under the hem of her skirt and she could feel his thumb on the inside of her thigh gradually moving higher towards where she now wanted it so desperately.

"I love you, Brenda." he breathed huskily.

Her answering smile was sweet and full, "Always, Fritzi." And then using her grip on his tie, she pulled him forward the rest of the way to finally close the last of the distance between them. Fritz quickly took control of the kiss, tilting her head back and snaking his hands through her blonde curls, and when she opened her mouth to gasp for air, he plunged his tongue in her mouth to duel with her own, deepening it further.

Her hands loosened his tie quickly, and in a matter of moments she had his shirt pulled out of his pants giving her the access she wanted. Sliding her hands beneath his white undershirt, she groaned into the kiss when skin connected with skin. Dragging her nails down his chest, she felt a surge of pride in herself when he elicited a similar moan in response to her actions.

She wasn't quite sure when it happened, but she was suddenly horizontal, her back connecting with cold metal, forcing her to let out a whimper as Fritz pulled her hips towards the edge of the desk before leaning over her, never once breaking the kiss. The cold only served to clear some of the fog from her brain, before she grudgingly admitted that, perhaps, having sex on her subordinate's desk was potentially a bad idea.

_'Oh, but how tempting it is.'_

Pulling away slightly, she endeavored to stop her fiance' from going any further, but as soon as the kiss was broken, Fritz changed direction and all thought of stopping ceased abruptly as she felt his hot mouth suck hard on the spot right below her ear and she let out a keening whine, causing Fritz to involuntarily thrust his hardness directly onto her core.

Neither of them were aware of the damage their movements were causing and without warning, a glass full of ball-points toppled to the ground and shattered across the hard floor to roll in all directions. Startled by the unexpected intrusion, both Brenda and Fritz were jolted back into reason, while some of the mist over their inebriated minds cleared.

Frozen in place and gasping for breath, Fritz had managed to bury his head into her hair, allowing him to deeply inhale Brenda's peaches-n-cream shampoo, to calm his racing heart. He could feel the way her thighs were quivering almost imperceptibly from where they had tightened, like a vice, around his hips and her hot breath against his ear was only serving to ignite his want further. Pushing that aside, he came to the realization that she was shaking slightly and looking up, he caught her eyes only to have her let out a pealing, girlish giggle.

"Oh, you must tell me what's so hilarious, honey."

Another round of laughter burst forth and Fritz groaned as his body vibrated while hers continued to shake with mirth.

"Brenda, you need to stop or I'm going to rip off those beautiful red, lace panties I watched you put on this morning and take you right on the top of this desk, like a wild man possessed."

Her laughter ceased immediately only to be replaced by indignant shock as her face flushed pink. "Fritz Howard, you'd never!"

"No, probably not," he replied, as he inspected the rather large mark he'd left on her neck, "but only because someone could walk in at any moment." He couldn't resist leaning down once again to place a chaste kiss at the junction between her shoulder and neck, "However, I do have a very new, very vivid fantasy about the desk in your office."

Responsively, she tilted her head back and moaned as he peppered kisses across her throat, but seconds later, Fritz could feel her hands on his face lifting it up, away from his prize.

"Fritzi, perhaps, we should continue this at home, before it gets out of hand...again."

"Oh, if we must," he huffed dramatically, "but I'm holding you to that."

Disentangling himself, somewhat reluctantly, he stood up straight, offering his hand to help her up. Both now standing, she proceeded to smooth her hair back in place as she watched Fritz straighten and tuck in his shirt, but as he went to tighten his tie, she batted his hands away. "No Fritzi, leave it loose. It's sexy."

His answering grin was smug, "yes, ma'am. If this is the way things turn out, maybe you should defend my honor more often."

She giggled, but said nothing as she reached for his hand and laced their fingers together, pulling him in the direction of the exit.

Passing her office, Fritz glanced over at her mahogany desk and a rush of blood went straight down to his already straining member. Confused at his sudden lack of movement, she followed his gaze and immediately understood his inattention. As a result, her face flushed, but there was a pleasant humming throughout her body at the thought of what they could certainly do in her office, blinds closed, and door locked tight.

_'Oh, what we could do in there,' _she marveled silently.

Sensing her arousal, he stepped close and whispered into her ear, "You know, we could just move this into your office now."

"As tempting as that is, and I mean it _really_ is, I'm starving."

"You're always starving, Brenda. One would think you never eat," he commented impatiently, "but you do all the time."

"Now, honey, you know that I can't perform on an empty stomach," she spoke as she watched him pout. She was enjoying this familiar banter of theirs, so she decided to compromise. "I'll tell you what, Fritzi," she mentioned as he turned back to look at her. "You take me out for the pizza we agreed on tonight," He groaned at what would definitely be a delay in certain activities, "and the next time, we find ourselves in this particular predicament, I give you permission to ravage me in my office."

"On the desk?" he asked hopefully.

"No, Fritzi, on the floor," she deadpanned, "Of course, on the desk."

Raising his hands to caress her face, "That's my girl," he whispered before kissing her soundly. Pulling away with a grin, "But I would have agreed to the floor in a heartbeat."

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**This is probably utter crap, but please review anyways?**


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